Sons of Serendip to close out Golden Isles Live's season

Apr. 21—Even after eight years, Micah Christian still finds his life a bit surreal. A former teacher from Randolph, Massachusetts, he never imagined that his lifelong love of music would eventually lead him to the stage of America's Got Talent in 2014.

But that's precisely what happened for Christian and the members of the Sons of Serendip.

"It really is pretty crazy to think about ... we all met in graduate school at Boston University ... though two of the guys — Kendall and Cordaro — had grown up together in North Carolina. They were roommates and then Mason, who is from Atlanta, was living with them as well," Christian recalled.

As the foursome became a group of friends, they began sharing their love of music. Christian brought powerful vocals; Kendall (Ramseur) played the cello; his longtime friend, Cordaro (Rodriguez) was a pianist; and Mason Morton, a harpist.

"We joked about forming a group and performing together. But at some point, I heard that America's Got Talent was holding auditions and we decided to just give it a shot," he said.

The group was dubbed the Sons of Serendip as a nod to the multitude of circumstances that surrounding their "serendipitous" meeting. They first auditioned in front of a small crowd, which included friends and family. But before long, they found themselves on the main stage, in front of the celebrity judges (at the time the lineup was Howard Stern, Heidi Klum, Mel B and Howie Mandel).

"We ended up placing fourth," Christian said. "I remember the finale and just thinking, 'Wow, this is really happening right now.' I think from then on we were committed to being a group."

That meant putting aside other careers they had pursued for decades — for instance, Rodriguez graduated from Princeton University and earned a juris doctorate from Boston University. But since the show, the group has discovered that playing together is precisely what they're meant to do.

"The last eight years have been incredibly meaningful. We were going to go our separate ways and follow other professions. But we are so glad that AGT came into our lives and that we decided to do it on a whim," he said with a laugh. "It's turned out to be such a beautiful journey."

The Sons of Serendip have covered a lot of ground over the years. They have produced four albums in addition to traveling nationally and internationally to share their love of music. Most recently, they were tapped to represent the United States at an international expo in Dubai.

"There were 192 countries that came together. Each one had a pavilion to share what was happening in their cultures and the arts. We were one of the groups invited to represent the U.S., which was really special to us," Christian said.

Now, back on American soil, the group is resuming their touring, which will bring them to St. Simons Island next month. The Sons of Serendip will close out Golden Isles Live's concert season at 7:30 p.m. May 6 at Wesley United Methodist Church at Frederica. Christian says the band is eager to venture to the Georgia coast, a place they have yet to perform.

"We are really looking forward to coming and connecting with the audience. I think people will hear a number of songs that they know and love, some popular songs. But we'll also bring some new material and originals. We also really love to share stories and experiences to really engage with the audience rather than just performing on stage," he said. "We will do some q and a, as well."

Christian says that during their travels they've found crowds are thrilled by the return of live performances. And it's helped to cultivate another layer of appreciation for the twist of fate which brought them to this point.

"The responses have been really wonderful and really warm. I think that audiences have been hungry for live music again," he said. "It's such a blessing and something that we never take for granted."